BTZ42Read: it has happened before

[Steven Koteff]

Laura I like your read of "screaming" as being supersonic, sound dislocated of object, of image. This seems almost like a trope--the dislocation of sound and light, with sound getting the pejorative half of that divorce. I'd have to check my relativity here but the difference of speeds, immediate ubiquitousness of light, maybe accounts for that. Sound depends much more on our perception, therefore. It is less the thing. Hence the question is whether the falling tree makes a sound, not if it casts a shadow. 

I am not a reliable person, and I'm sure I will disappear from the group read for days and pages at a time. With that in mind, I'll contribute whenever I can, even if it means starting early. If that is cool. Currently writing this on a cell phone on the street outside a place I'm about to get a haircut in. 

> On Mar 14, 2016, at 12:20 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
> 
> Hey, wasn't the official group read start date tomorrow? Will we have anything to compare the discussion to then?
> 
> I take the opening sentences at closer to face value - the prosaic view:
> 
> A screaming comes across the sky. The V-2 rocket, super-sonic, so its sound is out of kilter with time. "Screaming" reflects that more than "a scream."
> 
> It has happened before … Again, the prosaic read - if you're hearing the V-2, it's already landed - no need to kiss your ass goodbye.
> 
> … but there is nothing to compare it to now. This is the toughest nut to crack.  " … and, therefore, there is nothing to compare it to now," seems a more logical end to the sentence. The word "but" emphasizes the word "now." It implies that when it happened before (when this rocket was launched? Or: whenever these rockets have been launched in the past?) there WAS something to compare it to. So I guess what I'm saying is that the word "but" derails the simplistic V-2 reading. What in hell does Pynchon mean?
> 
> Laura
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ray Easton <raymond.lee.easton at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Mar 14, 2016 12:51 PM
>> To: P-list List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>> Subject: BTZ42Read: it has happened before
>> 
>> How do you (any of you) read the second sentence?
>> 
>> Ray
>> 
>> -----
>> You don't need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows
> -
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